Last Day Of The Year

A lot of firsts are happening today:

• first time ever we’re visiting Yellowstone National Park in the winter


• first time in 10 years (does that count as a first time) I flew on a propeller plane (last time was going from Ithaca to Newark with a landing in Binghamton when I was heading to South Carolina for a Tae Kwon Do tournament)


• first time ever Nick and I returned to Butte, MT (Clearly you can try to argue that that is not a first—Nick and I have visited Butte with all its mines and even had lunch there when we drove across the country in 2005. But never ever in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be back here. Little did we know that our little plane made a stop over in Butte, and during landing we took another look at the hilly little town with all its smoke stacks.


• first time ever we met a judge of BBQ tournaments… in person… (We shared a 2 hour drive from Bozeman, MT to YNP with him, and he talked the entire way.)


• first time I will not stay up to greet the New Year at midnight (since I can remember… I am sure I might have slept through it when I was younger then 3).